Kudos Mr. President: Mr. Goodluck Jonathan deserves accolades for his stupendous Management of the tragic Ebola virus in Nigeria

by Ugomma Duru-Duru

Nigeria, the heartbeat of Africa was certified free from the monster virus popular referred to Ebola by WHO on October 20, 2014.The Ebola Free declaration of (Naija)from the World Health Organization came 42 days after the last reported outbreak,which broke out in Nigeria on July 20, 2014. With the eradication of this deadly disease, Nigeria has once again proven that it is indeed capable of leading and of governing oneself. Yes, Nigeria has validated that it can take its destiny into its own hands when push comes to shove.
Certainly to no one’s surprise, this very impressive accomplishment by Nigeria received minimum coverage in the western news media. Of course reporting this spectacular feat will be contrary to what the West has perpetuated about our beloved country for years and years.
Who believed (Onyekwere), that Nigeria will competently address this public health scare. President Jonathan, thank you (Ndewo) for you were able to prove the cynics wrong. Among the things that Nigeria did right were (1) early diagnosis of Mr. Sawyer’s condition, the Liberian national who entered Nigeria with the deadly disease on July, 20th 2014 without disclosing his ailment. Despite his non-disclosure, Nigerian medical professionals at the First Consultant Hospital in Lagos diagnosed his condition after they ruled out other ailments and started caring for him. In all, Nigeria had 20 Ebola Cases and a total of eight deaths. (2) Mobilization of all the resources at the disposal (3) adequate monitoring and the subsequent deployment of medical personnel who quickly established contact tracing and (4) Effective communication and education of the masses about this tragic disease. Educating millions of Nigerians is not an easy task but Mr. President; your administration recorded a huge success to its populace.
Nigeria’s success received the attention of U.S. officials. Mr. Hayes re
ported in his nightly show “All in with Chris Hayes” that the United States government has dispatched its medical experts from the CDC to visit Nigeria in hopes of learning from Nigeria’s response. When I heard Mr. Hayes verbalize those words, I heaved a sigh of relief.
You, Mr. President, did not fold your hands while asking for foreign advisers, foreign “experts” to come in and wave the magic wand. Yes, we salute
you because you were not waiting for foreign aid or for a hand out. We, Nigerians are beaming with pride because our government fought like
warriors in exterminating the deadly virus.
Mr. Rui Gama Vaz, the Director of WHO for Nigeria called the contain
ment of the virus in Nigeria a “Spectacular Success Story”.
In an article published in the FP by David Francis titled “In fight to stop Ebola, Nigeria Got Right everything that America Got Wrong.” It states in the article that when Ebola was first discovered in Nigeria this summer, Jeffrey Hawkins, the U.S. Consul General in Lagos, said that an outbreak there could become an “apocalyptic urban outbreak. The last thing anyone in the world wants to hear is the two words, Ebola and Lagos, in the same sentence.” because of the large population.
In August, ForeignPolicy website published that if there is an outbreak in Nigeria, other West African economies could be devastated. The article further states that, “Nigeria seemed like the ideal petri dish for the virus to grow.”
The article concludes with Downie, an expert of Nigeria at the center for Strategic and International Studies stating that Nigeria success is a “first Class effort.” “There’s a lot here for other countries to learn, including the United States.”
The International Business Times reported on its website that India is following cues from Nigeria as it gears up to prevent the Virus from its country. According to the reporting, its International airports and sea ports will be equipped with thermal scanners, similar to the ones used by Nigeria. Once again, Nigeria has shown the world that it is indeed capable of presiding.
In an article published in Chinadaily.com titled “Nigeria sets an example in Fight against Ebola” the author Mr. Zhou remarked that “Nigeria owes its success to strong leadership, effective implementation of rules, selfless dedication of its medical staff and cross-country cooperation.”
This is the time for Nigeria to forge ahead and not relent. As this disease is still menacing parts of West Africa; specifically in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leona, Nigeria has taken up leadership role. According to news reports, Nigeria has donated millions and shared their successful techniques with the affected countries and volunteers from Nigeria have been assisting the affected region as well.
President Goodluck Jonathan dedicated the Ebola-free status to all Nigerians, Nigerian health workers, volunteers and to those who paid the ultimate prize in the fight to eradicate the disease.
Nigeria’s success is an evidence of Nigeria’s immense capability, if (we put all hands on deck.)If our leaders manifest the same zeal in addressing other domestic issues, Nigeria will excel.
His Excellency, all grease to your elbow! Your earnest effort in fighting the Ebola virus is worth emulating.

Ugomma Duru is a freelance writer who resides in New York

Posted by on Mar 21 2015. Filed under Community News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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